|
|
|
|
|
|
trap was to catch Lord Llewelyn. It was equally reasonable that she would not be allowed to make the return journey to bring reinforcements. The men discussed the matter that evening in camp with considerable anxiety. As soon as they passed the border of Powys, they would be fair game for an attack. They were a strong enough force not to fear that, but it made them uncomfortable to have a woman in their midst. Yet they could not leave her behind, since her men would not move from Clifford without her command. Alinor, seeing the discussion going in exactly the direction she desired, modestly held her peace. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It was just as well for Alinor's purposes that none knew that Lord Salisbury had started out for Clifford that very night. He carried with him an order he had wrung from the king, empowering him to command the services of the vassals of Roselynde. His knowledge of their place of meeting had come about simply enough. Once Lady Ela was over the worst of her shock, she remembered that Isobel of Clare was Alinor's closest friend and that, in her husband's absence, she commanded a number of strongholds in Wales and on the Welsh border. It was not impossible that Isobel knew where Alinor was going or where her men were to gather. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lady Ela's messenger caught her husband soon after Salisbury had left the king, and the hope of direction her suggestion gave him contributed more to his ability to eat and rest than all his brother's assurances. The next day he asked for, and by evening obtained, the writ he desired. When John asked where he would find them, Salisbury did not really answer. He had no suspicion John was playing him false; he was only trying to avoid mention of the Countess of Pembroke. The less John was reminded of what Pembroke was accomplishing in Ireland, the more chance Pembroke would have to finish the work. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Isobel did not have a devious mind. She knew her |
|
|
|
|
|